90 days for Md. spider theft

Staff at the Westminster library called police May 19 after they discovered Chili Rose, a Chilean Rose tarantula at the information desk, had disappeared. Witnesses told authorities they saw Humple with the spider and that he bragged about swiping it.

Hughes also sentenced Humple to four years in prison for violating his probation in a 2007 assault case. Humple told the judge he knows he's done some stupid things and he wants to serve his sentence.

The judge said that while what Humple did may have been “stupid on one level,” it was also “criminal on another level.”

It could be a library employee's pet that they bring to work, or it could be there for the children to look at/learn from, the way daycare centers and pre-schools often keep pets. I don't look on this any differently than if the library had an aquarium. I'd be interested to know if the spider was returned alive, or if the idiot killed it.